The chef and restaurateur will transform the site into something called Freak Momma, which he describes as a Japanese ‘superdiner dishing out Japanese tapas, burgers, fried chicken and chaos’.
Inspired by the Sonic Youth album Experimental Jet Set, Trash and No Star, Freak Momma will have a grungier style than Freak Scene and will be ‘Louder, messier, and absolutely not traditional’, according to Hallsworth, who says that he has been planning the change for a while.
Parsons Green marked the first permanent site for Hallsworth’s Freak Scene brand, which was inspired by a Dinosaur Jr song and which started as a pop-up in 2017. It opened in 2023, with a second following in Balham in 2024.
This is the second time in as many months that Hallsworth has decided to rebrand one of his restaurants and take a different tack with a more laid-back Asian feel to it. Last month he announced he would be rebranding his Casual Leopard restaurant in Balham as Japanese restaurant Kuroyoko and giving it a more relaxed feel.
Translating as ‘black alley’ or ‘dark side’, Kuroyoko serves a menu of drinking snacks, skewers, slow-cooked rice pots and a selection of playful desserts with a Japanese twist.
Freak Momma is due to open in a few weeks’ time.
